


impractical magic

by seratonins



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Boarding School, F/F, Fluff, Mentions of Blood, Witches, mentions of mihyun, yes another boarding school au i have unresolved catholic guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seratonins/pseuds/seratonins
Summary: The story of how Myoui Mina found out she was cursed, featuring the most popular girl in school, the blood of your enemies, and a baking soda and vinegar volcano.(or, Mina and Nayeon get paired together for the science fair project, and Nayeon seems to be very against Mina's proposal, for some reason.)
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Myoui Mina, background Hirai Momo/Kim Dahyun
Comments: 8
Kudos: 315





	impractical magic

**Author's Note:**

> this was commissioned by the lovely weirdaydreamer on twitter! thank u so much<3  
> this fic was inspired by the twilight zone! season 2 ep 5 ("Among the Untrodden"). this was SO SO fun to write, i loved it, its always fun to write minayeon. i hope you all like it too!

Mina’s grandma once said, when her eyes were tired and her hair grey, _you are going to meet someone really special one day._ Her words stuck with Mina even as they laid her to rest, as Mina washed the funeral smell off her hair, as she scrubbed her nails clean. Everyone wants to hope that their grandkid will find love or friendship one day, but for some reason Mina just couldn’t let it go.

Mina grew up with no friends, with no real shoulder to lean on. Her parents were too busy with work to pay much attention to her social life, they were more worried about her attending her cello lessons than making friends. So Mina grew up quiet, mostly in the back of the class, not really saying a word. She’d draw monsters on her notebook, paint her nails red and black, and kids would whisper about her when she walked down the halls. 'Freaky Myoui' was one of their favorite nicknames. Mina never said anything back — it’s not that it didn’t bother her, she was just not brave enough. For a girl who liked scary things so much, she never had much spine. By thirteen her parents had finally decided to send her to boarding school where she’d become someone else’s problem.

Without friends in real life, Mina turned to the next best thing: her new school’s library. Nobody went there much even if the library was beautiful, with books decorating every single shelf, of different widths and genres, though Mina only had eyes for one: an old, dusty book no one seemed to have even glanced at in ages. The book was called _The Witching Hour_ , about a girl who discovered she came from a long lineage of witches and supernatural creatures. The book was probably not something a thirteen-year-old should’ve been reading — it was gritty, bloody and Mina more often than not couldn’t get a wink of sleep after reading it, but somehow she found herself intrigued by the world the author had created, but most importantly, by witches.

Even if she spends hours reading about them, Mina is not stupid, she knows witches aren’t real. Or at least she thinks she knows they aren’t.

Im Nayeon is fine; okay at best. Mina doesn’t spend much time thinking about her, there are tons of more interesting things to think about other than the most popular girl in school. Nayeon has best friends in every corner, and everyone seems to really like her. She’s not mean but she’s not kind, and she doesn’t say _Bless you_ when people sneeze, which is kind of rude in Mina’s opinion.

They only share one class together, Science with Miss Kim. Nayeon sits at the front, giggles with her friends and asks questions, while Mina is more of a silent student. Miss Kim is always saying how proud she is of Mina’s essays and how bright she is. 

The point is, Mina and Nayeon have never crossed paths, not in the entire three years Mina’s gone to this school. Nayeon is too popular, Mina’s too quiet. Their lives don’t mix.

Until.

“As you all know,” Miss Kim says as she cleans the blackboard before the bell rings. “The science fair is in three months, so I took the liberty of already pairing you guys up for your project.”

“Wait,” one of the students, a girl named Chaeyoung who dyed her hair more times Mina can remember, says. “Does that mean we can’t choose our partners this year?”

Miss Kim nods. “That’d be correct.”

“That’s BS,” someone groans, and everyone starts raising their voice to complain.

“That’s enough,” Miss Kim chastises, her lips pressed together in exasperation. “I know I've allowed you to choose your own partners for the past three years, but after Miss Yoo and Park almost set the school on fire last year with their project I can't afford another accident."

"Thanks, Jihyo and Jeongyeon," a girl whispers under her breath, annoyed. Chou Tzuyu, probably one of the prettiest girls in school. Jihyo and Jeongyeon, all the way from the back, high-five each other, and Mina bites the inside of her cheek to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

"This science project will be half of your grade, remember that. I’ll start calling out the partners, you’ll have to switch places to sit together at least until the science fair. Understood?”

Sighing, the rest of her classmates nod. Mina doesn’t really care, although she was hoping to speak with Miss Kim so she could maybe do the project alone since last year no one wanted to do it with her. Though admittedly it might be fun to have a partner this year. Her mom is always asking about her friends and she doesn’t have the heart to tell her she doesn’t have any. Maybe she can stop having to lie to her.

“Yoo Jeongyeon and Kang Seulgi will be partners… Park Chaeyoung and Kim Jennie...” Miss Kim reads aloud from a sheet of paper. Finally, as the last of the girls are sat together, she announces the final set of partners. “And Myoui Mina and Im Nayeon. Mina, can you come to the front of the class, please?”

Nayeon turns around in her chair to stare at her, and she gifts her a small, friendly smile. Mina takes at least ten seconds to react until she realizes everyone is staring.

“Who is that?” Someone whispers. 

Mina takes her backpack and walks towards Nayeon’s desk, trying to hide her face with her hair. She tries not to look too embarrassed but Mina knows people can probably tell she's blushing. She’s not used to being watched like this, and she can’t for the life of her understand why someone like Nayeon would willingly sign up for this amount of attention. 

“Hey,” Nayeon whispers as she sits down next to her. Mina tries her best to give her a friendly smile.

“Hi.”

Miss Kim continues explaining how the Science fair works, although most of the students already know anyway. Mina allows her mind to wander off, and she catches her eyes dropping to the floor more often than not. She feels Nayeon’s gaze on her and tries to picture what she might be thinking. She comes up with two options: either _she’s a freak,_ or _I’ve never seen this girl. before_

Ten minutes later the bell finally rings and Mina is free to escape to Math class. She’s grabbing her backpack and walking away when someone grabs her by the arm — the touch is gentle yet firm and it startles her, making her jump a bit.

“Shit, sorry,” Nayeon says, instantly pulling away. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Mina shakes her head, looking at Nayeon’s shoelaces. Double knots on each shoe. “It’s okay,” she says.

“I just thought it’d be good to introduce each other before we actually start working on our project,” Mina can hear the smile on Nayeon’s voice, and when she dares look up she sees her climbing onto her desk and sitting there, legs dangling on the air. “My name’s Nayeon. Though you might know it already.”

Slightly cocky. Mina sits down next to her and plays with the hem of her uniform skirt.

“Yes, I do. My name is Mina.”

“Ah,” Nayeon giggles a bit. “I finally know the newbie’s name.”

“I’m not new,” Mina says, eyebrows drawn together in slight offense. “I’ve been a student here for three years.”

Nayeon looks like she wants to roll her eyes. “I know you aren’t. It’s just — no one really knows you, so you never stopped being new. It’s not meant to be an insult.”

Mina isn’t so sure about that. She shakes her head.

“Eh… okay. We should start thinking about our science fair project.”

“We have over three months,” she replies. Nayeon starts playing with the gum she’s chewing on. She takes a piece and stretches it with her fingers, and Mina makes a face of displeasure. Nayeon sticks her gum back on her mouth.

“I think we should start planning anyway...” Mina trails off. Nayeon doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about the project, and it makes Mina feel slightly nervous. Grades aren’t that important to her, but this is half of their final grade we’re talking about here.

“We should try and get to know each other first,” she replies. “We can have lunch together sometime if you want.”

“I...” how does Mina tell the most popular girl she usually has lunch in the bathroom because it’s quieter there without dying of embarrassment? “I - I mean, okay... If you want to.”

“It’s a date!” Nayeon winks at her, and a blush spreads across Mina’s cheeks. _A date…?_

Mina looks away. “Do you have anything in mind for the project?”

“What about a vinegar volcano?” Nayeon asks, her legs swinging back and forth in the air. “Irene and Seulgi did that last year and they won.”

Mina makes a face again. “A baking soda and vinegar volcano?” When Nayeon nods, Mina continues. “That sounds a bit… low effort. I still don’t understand how they won with something like that… I thought Chaeryeong’s laser presentation was better.”

“Miss Kim doesn’t really care about the projects,” Nayeon shrugs. “She’ll pick her favorites, and she really likes you so we’ll be fine. And she likes seeing students get along, that’s why Chaer didn’t win. She did it alone. You shouldn’t think about this too hard, you know.”

“I don’t want to half-ass it,” Mina says, probably with a bit more force than she intends it to. For some reason she can’t meet Nayeon’s gaze. Maybe she’s worried Nayeon might yell at her or something — not that she ever did; Nayeon’s popular because she’s friendly and people take a liking to her super fast. Mina’s just… not used to people like her at all. She’s like a wild card. The people Mina (sometimes, very occasionally) hangs around with are reclusive like she is.

Nayeon sighs. “What did you have planned, then? I can’t promise I’ll be great at it.”

“Oh,” Mina lets a small smile slip into her features. “It’s kind of a silly idea.”

“Well, now you have to tell me,” Nayeon smiles at her, jumping down from her desk. 

“I’ve been thinking it’d be fun to make a project about how witches could be explained by science,” Mina explains, slightly excited. “Like, obviously witches don’t exist in real life, but what would their powers be if they did, and scientifically speaking, how those would present themselves if they —”

“You’re right,” Nayeon says, and when Mina looks up to see her her entire expression has hardened, her lips drawn into a tight smile. Mina feels a shiver run down her spine, her own shoulders tense. “It’s silly.”

Mina blinks once, two times.

“I—”

“We’ll do my idea,” Nayeon interrupts her, reaching for her bag. “Do you understand?”

She doesn’t know why, but Mina nods yes, like she can’t help but do it. Mina wants to ask why, but the words won’t leave her, they get stuck on the back of her throat and refuse to leave. Her lips are sealed together. 

Once Nayeon is out the door, Mina feels like she can finally breathe again.

The next day Mina finds herself thinking about the encounter, although she tries not to. Nayeon doesn’t seem mean, maybe overly controlling in a way, but the way she had reacted at the end of their conversation had been so sudden and abrupt… something felt off to Mina. Sure, maybe her idea for the project was stupid, but Nayeon seemed personally offended by it.

Mina shouldn’t think about it so much. There’s nothing wrong with reacting unreasonably about something once. She’s reminded that she doesn’t know Nayeon at all, so she shouldn’t judge her. Still… it was, admittedly, a bit weird. 

She has Science class today too. Mina wonders how Nayeon will react to seeing her, if she hates her now for some reason, if she wants to switch partners; but when Mina walks in, face covered by her hair in a poor attempt to make herself smaller, Nayeon doesn’t do anything. When Mina sits beside her, Nayeon turns to her with a small smile and guilt flooded eyes.

“Hey,” she greets. Mina nods in acknowledgment, not really sure what to say. “How are you?”

“I’m fine...” First Nayeon yells at her and tells her her idea for a project is stupid and now she’s acting friendly again? Mina’s confused. She must look like it, because Nayeon makes a face, like she knew she’d feel this way.

“I’m sorry for being all weird yesterday,” Nayeon apologizes. “I shouldn’t have. Sorry.”

“Oh,” Mina says, slightly surprised. “It’s okay.”

“I’ve talked to Irene and Seulgi about the volcano they did last year,” Nayeon tells her, smiling again. “They gave me the instructions. We’re _crushing_ this science fair.”

Mina feels a little disheartened that Nayeon’s still insisting on doing this low effort project, but nods anyway. She’s not about to fight her over a baking soda volcano. She’s got more important things to worry about, like the house she's trying to build on Minecraft, you know?

Still… Mina can’t help but wonder what could’ve possibly gotten Nayeon to react that way. The way her mood suddenly changed, how her whole demeanor went from nice to hostile and Mina had gone along with what she said without thinking… what had happened that day? Just who exactly _is_ Im Nayeon? 

So, Mina starts writing things down.

It’s really nothing at first, just little things she notices that catch her eye. Like, little quirks that wouldn’t really be suspicious but they are coming from Nayeon. _Nayeon seems angry when people bring up Harry Potter. Nayeon rolls her eyes when someone jokes about curses. When Wendy from the Music Club spilled ketchup on her skirt it went away in five minutes._ Things like that. 

Mina knows obsessing over something as insignificant as this is not healthy. She _knows_ this. When her parents sent her to therapy when she was just nine and wouldn't shut up about vampires and werewolves, the lady with grey hair and cat fur all over her skirt had been very clear: it’s fine to be interested in things, but being obsessed with something isn’t.

It’s a fine line. Mina likes books, but she doesn’t spend 24/7 reading them. Mina likes Minecraft, and she admittedly plays more than what is considered normal, but she’s not obsessed with it.

Her roommate Dahyun sees her scribbling when she comes back after an especially revealing event during Science class (although she's not entirely sure what she's exactly revealing here), something along the lines of _Nayeon was looking at the trashcan and it tipped over,_ and she tries to peek at whatever Mina’s writing.

“Whatcha got there?” she asks.

“Nothing!” Mina closes her notebook with more force than she intends it to.

“Jesus,” Dahyun flinches, stepping away. “I won’t tell anyone you have a crush on Im Nayeon, no need to jump like that.”

“What?” Mina asks in disbelief. A crush on _who_?

Dahyun smiles slightly. “You’re writing about her in your book, aren’t you? That’s really cute. I used to do that with Momo too. I’d scribble my name next to hers and write all the things I noticed about her. Pff. So cheesy.”

“I - I _don’t_ ,” Mina shakes her head over and over, blushing up to her ears. She re-reads everything just to make sure she's not writing a love letter even if she knows that’s not the case at all; it’s just observations. “I don’t like her like that at all.”

Dahyun winks at her, a knowing smile taking over her face.

“Sure you don’t.”

Mina can’t help but blush again. If only her roommate knew… Mina shakes her head and goes back to writing.

After a week of working more closely to Nayeon and observing her, Mina comes to the conclusion that Im Nayeon is strange. Not weird as in _she likes Pineapple on pizza_ ; not weird as in _she dances when she thinks no one's watching_. No, Im Nayeon is _strange_. Something is off.

At first, Mina thinks she’s just seeing things. She’s always been told she has a really active imagination if her drawings and stories are anything to go on. When she was younger she convinced her parents a monster was living under her bed and she had befriended him and named him Ray. 

Nayeon’s a normal teenager, sometimes she finds weird stuff annoying, she’s super fast at cleaning stuff up; it’s fine. But things start going into _strange_ territory one night. 

Mina wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare; a recurring one. In her dream, she’s on the beach, the sea touching her toes. She breathes in the scent of the ocean, tasting salt on her lips. She has this weird feeling that someone is watching her — at first she feels safe, like she loves this person, but after a few seconds the sun sets and darkness engulfs her. She turns to stare at the person and there stands a dark figure. A witch. She whispers something Mina can never quite hear, and the tide starts rising and rising and she can't move. The witch watches her drown.

She wakes up in a cold sweat, more exhausted than scared. She’s had this nightmare for years. Sighing and checking that Dahyun is still asleep, Mina decides to go to the bathroom for a glass of water.

Before she’s about to leave, Mina hears something; footsteps from the hallway. She opens the door slightly, just enough to peek through it, and sees Nayeon leaving the room she shares with Minatozaki Sana, closing her door as quietly as she can manage. Mina watches her disappear down the hallway on her tiptoes, looking behind her like she’s hiding something. She writes it down in her notebook and waits by the door for her return and before she can fall asleep on the ground Nayeon comes back two hours later. Mina has no idea where she went. She comes back looking the same way she did before leaving — no wet or disheveled hair. 

Mina witnesses this every night for the following week. The fourth time Mina doesn’t really know what compels her to follow Nayeon, but she does. She grabs her penguin slippers and follows Nayeon successfully as quietly as she can manage (years of practice of going unnoticed) up to the third floor. Luckily she doesn’t run into any professors on the way there. 

Nayeon unknowingly leads her to the abandoned bathroom next to the laboratory. No one’s been there since Mina arrived, probably even more. It was closed for renovations but the school never had the money to fix the pipes, so students only use it to hook up or smoke. A chill runs down Mina's spine for some reason. Her feet are moving before she can even think about it.

Mina opens the door to the abandoned bathroom on the third floor. At first she sees nothing, the only sense she has to guide herself is the faint smell of wax and the sound of running water. Mina feels her heart on her throat, feeling unease. She can’t see anything.

Then there’s a flicker of light and suddenly she’s being cornered by her science project partner, candles lighting the room all around her. 

Mina doesn’t even have time to shriek in fear because Nayeon is chanting something and Mina's lips are wired shut; it doesn’t sound like any language she knows. Mina stares in horror as Nayeon’s eyes dig into her very soul, the candles casting an orange tint to her features, making Mina stumble back, eyes wide as plates and before she realizes a single drop of blood falls from her nose onto her lips.

“ _Hanc animam tetigit, quod maledictio_ ,” Nayeon says finally, as the candles flicker off and Mina’s brought to darkness again.

She’s not sure what to do, what to say, what just happened; all she knows is the rapid beating of her own heart. Mina doesn’t even register the taste of her own blood on her mouth.

Then she hears a click, and the lights turn back on. Nayeon is beside her, her finger on the lightswitch, a cigarette in her hand. She’s… smiling. What the hell is she smiling about? 

“Hey! What’s up?" 

Mina just stares at her, mouth wide open. 

“What?” Nayeon blinks, then realization hits her. “Oh, _that_. I thought you knew by now.”

“What?” Mina shakes her head slightly, finally finding the words to speak. “Know what?”

“That I’m a witch, duh,” Nayeon replies, walking to one of the candles and lighting the cigarette with it. 

The only thing that Mina can think to do is laugh. Does Nayeon think she is stupid? Sure, she likes witches, has an unhealthy hyper fixation on them maybe, but she knows witches can’t possibly be real. Everything she noticed about Nayeon has a logical explanation. 

“I’m not stupid, Nayeon,” Mina tells her, a giggle on the tip on her tongue, the taste of iron dancing inside her mouth. “I know witches aren’t real. Are your friends Sana and Momo here to turn off the candles somewhere? It was a good prank, but I’m not an idiot.”

Nayeon looks thoroughly unimpressed. She purses her lips at her, crossing her arms across her chest. “Do you seriously think this is a joke?”

She doesn’t get a chance to respond before Nayeon lifts her hand and Mina’s notebook is snatched from her hands with a gasp and thrown across the room, landing on Nayeon’s hand gracefully and perfectly safe. The book opens in her hold, the pages turning without Nayeon moving a muscle. She smirks.

“ _Day three_ ,” she reads aloud, as Mina watches in horror and disbelief. “ _Cafeteria. 12:39 PM. Nayeon moved her hand and some girl fell across the cafeteria._ Oh, I really like this one: _Day seven. Science class. 09:21 PM. Nayeon doesn’t flip the pages of her book and they move on their own. Magnets?_ I mean, the evidence is in this notebook, I really thought you had it figured out.”

“How did you - ?!”

“I saw you writing stuff down, I’m not dumb,” Nayeon says, clearly amused. 

“I mean, how did you take my notebook like that?” Mina shakes her head. “How did — ? _How_?”

“I told you already, I’m a witch.” Nayeon says, impossible smug.

"You're..."

The smirk on Nayeon's face starts to melt away once she notices how pale Mina is getting. Mina starts thinking she might pass out any second now. As if sensing she's is about to have the freak out of the century, Nayeon reaches for her arm and grabs it, grounding her.

“Shit, Mina, are you okay?" she asks, "Please don’t pass out on me, I skipped the CPR seminar.”

Nayeon runs to one of the stalls and brings her toilet paper to clean her bleeding nose, and Mina takes it and places it over her lip. The bleeding mostly stopped, but the taste of blood still remains. 

Mina nods her head, still light-headed. “I - I am… I think so...”

“Good,” Nayeon sighs, relieved. 

“... Why did you skip the seminar?”

“I can literally cast a spell to bring people back to life,” Nayeon says, chuckling as she guides Mina to sit on the floor until she feels a bit less frail. Despite how terribly surreal this whole thing is, she still feels grateful. “Not very interested in CPR.”

“That’s really arrogant,” Mina says, more of an observation than anything. She doesn’t really realize she says it until the words leave her lips, and she blushes when she realizes she did.

Nayeon’s mouth curls into half a smile. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

Mina tries to catch her breath for a second. She’s been obsessed with horror books, supernatural creatures, the Salem trials… and now here she is, talking to a witch in the flesh. She'd ask for more proof, but after everything she's witnessed and written down on her journal, she knows this isn't some elaborate park. Or maybe she just wants to believe it isn't. Because witches are real and her Science Fair partner is a witch. Witches are real, and Mina’s nose is bleeding.

No one says anything for what feels like years.

“So… a witch...”

Nayeon nods, sighing and resting her head on the wall. “I’ve never told anyone before. I wanted to do like, a cool ass witch reveal but you almost passed out on me. Also, you can’t tell _anyone_. Not even your roommate.”

“No one would believe me anyway… but, why me?” When Nayeon turns to look at her confused, Mina reformulates the question. “Why did you tell me?”

Nayeon thinks about her answer for a second. Then she says, “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you. We shouldn’t intervene with another witches’ work.”

“What are you talking about?” She frowns, feeling even more confused than before.

“Shit,” Nayeon shakes her head, then sighs. “Fuck it, I’ll tell you anyway. I think another witch might have cursed you. I knew you were following me and I made you come in to complete the spell.”

Mina blinks. This might as well be her Thursday night.

“ _What_?”

“That spell I was doing before you came in,” Nayeon begins explaining, “was to see if you were cursed. Turns out you were, otherwise your nose wouldn’t have bled. You pissed some witch off, Mina.”

“How…? What’s the curse?” She sighs. The last thing she freaking needs: to be _cursed._

“A love curse,” she explains. “I noticed when I made that joke about lunch together being a date. It made me feel nauseous, which I thought was weird. You're not that ugly.”

"Gee," she says wrily, although she still manages to blush. "Thanks. Well, as far as curses go a love curse can’t be too bad. It’s not like people line up to ask me out or anything, so it’s really nothing new..."

“The curse is kind of old actually,” Nayeon says. “Maybe two or three years old? I’m not too sure. Wasn’t that when you transferred here?”

Mina nods. “Yeah… three years ago.”

“Then it’s probably a witch that goes here,” Nayeon nods as well.

Mina feels a bit breathless. “There are more?”

“Too many,” Nayeon chuckles. “Witches are everywhere.”

“Wait, stop,” Mina interrupts for a second. “You’re telling me no one’s ever asked me out because I was cursed?”

Nayeon nods. “Pretty much.”

Mina’s not entirely sure what to make of this information. She’s never really thought much about love — not at all actually. When girls were giggling about the boys from the school down the street or another girl in class they had a crush on, Mina was busy sticking her nose inside a book or reading another article about witch powers. Mina hadn't really cared about those things, but at least she can find some comfort in the fact that it’s not entirely her fault that no one wants to take her out on a date.

“Is there a way to break the curse?” she asks.

“Yeah, all curses can be broken, there are counterspells that can break them, or we could find the witch that cursed you,” Nayeon makes a face. “I’m not good at curse-breaking spells, they are too advanced for me. I’m not very good at anything witchy anyway...”

“Oh?”

Nayeon continues. “I never practiced. I don’t… I was never interested in being a witch, so I skipped most of my lessons with my mom and my Coven but she left me here five years ago and I haven’t seen her since, so now I have no one to teach me.”

“I’m sorry,” Mina says, genuinely. She thinks about reaching to grab Nayeon's hand, then thinks better of it.

“Thanks,” Nayeon smiles a bit. “But yeah, I don’t think I’ll be able to help you.”

“What if I help you?”

Nayeon frowns, “What do you mean?”

“Well...” Mina lifts the paper from her nose, watches it stain red. “I know a lot about witches… I’ve read a lot of books, I know everything one can possibly know about them. But I can’t cast spells because I’m not one, but you are. I can teach you about them until you can break my curse. I'm not in a rush or anything, so...”

“So you’d be my teacher? You, a _human_?” Nayeon makes a face.

“Basically...” Mina says, looking down at the floor. “Is that such an awful idea?”

Nayeon seems to ponder on it for a few seconds. Mina doesn’t know why she grows so nervous all of a sudden. Sure, she wants the curse lifted of course, but there’s something more. Maybe she’s desperate to have a taste of the magic she knows so much about, yet has never actually known.

Nayeon ends up shrugging.

“Meh. Weirder things have happened.”

Their lessons start the very next day. Nayeon tells her to meet her in the abandoned bathroom at the same time as last time, so Mina brings every book she owns about witches, prints every article she finds online that mentions spells or witchcraft and gets to work. Nayeon is a bit reluctant at first — honestly, she seems more interested in having a good time than learning.

“I know this spell already,” Nayeon whines at her. “Can’t we talk about like, clothes?”

“If you knew this spell already,” Mina says, softly but as firmly as she can manage to sound, holding the dead flower in her hand, “you’d bring this flower back to life.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes from where she’s sitting — she managed to drag a desk and a chair here, don’t ask Mina how. 

“You’re really boring,” she says, and then her eyes drop to the flower laying on Mina’s hands. She squints, and begins reciting something in what’s probably latin. Mina closes her eyes as she feels power tingling on the tip of her fingers, reaching towards the flower in her hand… and in a second it’s gone. Nayeon groans and hides her face on the desk.

Mina glances at the flower in her hand, unchanged.

“It’s okay,” Mina tries to reassure her. “We’ll try again later.”

“I’m never going to break that stupid curse,” Nayeon whines.

Mina tries smiling. “I can wait.”

“You wouldn’t have to if I were a competent witch,” she responds, playing with the hem of her uniform skirt. Mina swallows, not sure how to respond. She’s never had a friend, she doesn’t know how to make things better. 

“Maybe we should think of this as a test to study for,” Mina suggests. She takes the marker inside her pocket and writes down on the bathroom mirror the seven spells she heard in American Horror Story: Coven (the best season, by the way). _Pyrokinesis - Descensum - Vitalum Vitalis - Divination - Transmutation - Concilium - Telekinesis._

“Seriously?” Nayeon asks when she glances up, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Mina steps away from her work. “They are the powers on the witch test from American Horror Story,” when Nayeon gives her a look, Mina shrugs slightly. “It’s a good show...”

“Some of these are really stupid,” Nayeon points out. She takes the marker from Mina’s hand and crosses out most of them. “Descensum? Vitalum Vitalis? Concilium? What even are those?”

“Well… Vitalum Vitas is about balancing the fine line between life and death and … You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Nope.”

Nayeon doodles on the mirror a bit more, and when she steps back, Mina reads, _Pyrokinesis - Mind control - Flying - Divination - Transmutation - Telekinesis - Necromancy._

“Wait,” Nayeon says, stepping towards the mirror once more. She adds at the bottom in all caps, _CURSE BREAKING_. “There,” she smirks.

And so they begin.

_Lesson I: Pyrokinesis_

Mina places a candle right under Nayeon’s nose, who steps away almost immediately with a squeal that echoes in the almost abandoned room.

“Jesus!” Nayeon exclaims. “You’re going to burn me with that thing!”

Mina smiles. “We’re learning Pyrokinesis today.”

“Good evening to you too, Pyromaniac,” Nayeon scoffs at her, fixing her hair as Mina places the candle on Nayeon’s desk. “I already _know_ Pyrokinesis, I can light candles with my mind. Don’t you remember that little number I did on you on that first night?”

“You know how to light things on fire,” Mina nods in agreement. She turns to Nayeon, eyebrow slightly raised. “But do you know how to control fire?”

Nayeon seems to ponder on the question for a second. Then she nods, as if finally understanding what Mina meant. 

“Okay, fine,” Nayeon nods. “What do you want me to do?”

“People say fire is the most dangerous element given how difficult it is to keep it calm. The most valuable thing you can learn about fire is how to control it,” Mina says, pulling out a piece of cloth from her pajama pockets, from an old shirt that doesn't fit her anymore. She reaches for the lit candle.

“What are you doing?”

Mina holds the piece of cloth over the flame, and in a quick motion, it lights on fire, casting orange shadows on Mina's face. 

“Please put it out before it burns me.”

“Shit, are you crazy?” Nayeon curses. “I've never put out fire with my mind before! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

“Do it, Nayeon,” Mina swallows, already feeling nervous.

Nayeon closes her eyes, hard, but nothing happens. The cloth burns and burns and burns until its flames kiss the skin on Mina’s hand. Panic rises all the way to Mina’s throat as the flames approach her skin without mercy. 

“Put it out…!"

"I'm trying!" Nayeon says, her eyes opening in horror.

"Nayeon! C’mon, you can do it! You have to!”

Nayeon’s eyes are wide open, panicked and distressed. “I don’t — I can’t — Mina!”

“Help me!”

“ _I can’t_!”

Mina screams as the flames touch her skin, and she lets the cloth fall to the ground. Nayeon is quick to act; she stomps on it until the fire dies on the ground. Mina clutches her hand close to her chest as silent tears fall from her eyes.

Once the fire is dead, regret washes over Nayeon.

“I’m sorry, Mina. I’m a terrible witch!”

“It’s okay,” Mina shakes her head, tears still streaming down her face. “I shouldn’t have pressured you like that...”

Nayeon reaches for her hand. “Let me help you.”

“No, it’s—” Mina flinches. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine. It was my fault, I’m sorry.”

“No, please, it was my fault. Let me make it up to you. I know a spell,” Nayeon insists. “Please, let me help you. I want to.”

Mina’s reluctant at first, but when she catches Nayeon’s apologetic eyes, she sighs. She places her wounded hand on hers. Nayeon guides her to the desk where she motions Mina to take a seat. Nayeon takes one of her books and starts flipping through it impatiently, her hand slightly shaking. Mina’s stomach churns with regret and physical pain — she shouldn’t have pressured Nayeon so much, and knowing how bad she feels makes Mina feel even worse.

“Where is it…? I swear I saw— Aha!” Nayeon exclaims. “Here’s the little fucker. Okay, give me your hand, please.” 

Mina places her hand in Nayeon’s. She feels a shiver run down her spine and her mouth goes dry for some reason… Magic, most likely. Hopefully.

“ _Fluit sanguis in venis, exiit cutis circa cibum,_ ” Nayeon chants. Mina feels cold air prickling on the back of her neck, making the hairs rise. _“Bonas facite hoc corpore, ad suos redire 'primum. Quod innocentes sana animam meam.”_

Her hand feels like she's dipped in water, somehow, and then when Mina glances down at her own hand she finds the burn wound is gone and so is the pain. She takes in a shaky breath, relieved.

“You did it!”

Nayeon smiles from ear to ear. “I did it! I haven’t done that spell in years!”

“See?” Mina says softly. “You’re not a bad witch.”

Nayeon’s smile turns a bit shy, and she stares down at the tiles on the bathroom floor. She doesn’t let go of Mina’s hand, and Mina doesn’t tell her to, for some reason. “I still hurt you. And I still suck at Pyro.”

Mina shakes her head. “We’ll try another time. Pyrokinesis can wait.”

  
  
  


_Lesson III: Flying_

This is by far Mina’s worst idea. Nayeon tells her as much.

“The gardens? What if someone sees me?”

“No one will,” Mina reassures her, three books under her arm with Nayeon dragging the broom behind her under the night sky. “I made you cast that blinding spell, didn’t I? Plus everyone’s asleep right now. It’s three AM.”

“You know,” Nayeon says, sighing. “For someone so quiet, you have a lot of nerve.”

“A teacher has to have _some_ nerve,” Mina giggles, turning around to smile at her witch student. Nayeon’s eyes are droopy with sleep, but when she catches Mina's eye, she smiles too. “You aced mind control, which was slightly scary by the way, but that was all about power from inside. Flying is more physical. We need the space.”

Mina turns back around and stops right in front of the soccer field. The team uses it for games and sometimes improvised, highly amateur American Football games, but tonight they shall put it to use for something far more important. Mina places her books on the ground, and motions for Nayeon to give her her broom. 

“Now, you probably know way more about flying than I do,” Mina begins, as Nayeon places the broomstick on her hand.

“I don’t, actually,” Nayeon interrupts. “My mom used to fly all the time, but I never tried learning. I used to…” she shakes her head.

Mina notices that sometimes it’s hard for Nayeon to speak about stuff like this. Not just witchcraft but her family and her coven. Sometimes she’ll catch herself talking about it and then stop for seemingly no reason, and her eyes will focus on something far away.

So, despite not having any friends, despite not really knowing how to comfort anyone, Mina reaches for her hand. Nayeon’s surprised at first — she jumps slightly when she feels Mina’s cold hand wrap around hers, but when she catches Mina's eye she smiles. Mina really likes her smile.

“It’s fine,” she reassures her.

“I know,” Nayeon says, then she repeats it, more for herself than for Mina. 

No one says anything for a minute, but Mina doesn’t feel the need to fill the silence. The stars are shining, the moonlight catches Nayeon’s features just so… maybe this is like that lunch date Nayeon promised.

“I used to try and climb on my mom’s broom all the time,” Nayeon continues. “But she’d never let me. The coven we were in was super strict, you know? They wanted me to study all the time, and I was just _so_ fed up with it. I never listened to them, I used to not be in control of my magic at all. That’s why they sent me here.”

Mina nods. She tries to understand, but she knows she’ll never be able to fully understand what a witch like Nayeon has to go through. “My parents sent me here because they didn’t know what to do with me, either. I didn’t have any friends, and I watched a ton of scary movies, and I spoke a lot about witches. They didn’t understand me. They still don’t...”

“We’re really different,” Nayeon snorts. “But we try to understand each other. Way more than anyone else, at least.”

“Yeah...” Mina feels the corner of her lips stretch into a smile. Sincere, genuine. “No one really tried to before, I guess.”

Nayeon beams. “That’s what friends are for, aren’t they? To comfort each other?”

Friends. The word makes Mina’s tummy fill with butterflies and something else, slightly bitter on the pit of her stomach. She nods, her eyes going slightly glassy. Nayeon squeezes her hand.

“Friends…?”

“Yeah,” Nayeon says, excited. Mina feels like she’s lost twelve years and she’s five again, like little Mina in kindergarten asking people if they want to be her friend. Her heart soars. She’s been lonely for so long it somehow feels like someone else’s life is flashing across her eyes.

“I’d like that,” she says, finally. Nayeon’s smile softens around the edges.

Their eyes meet. A lot is said, yet no one opens their mouth.

“Okay!” Nayeon exclaims, finally pulling her hand away. Mina never realizes how much hand-holding they actually do until Nayeon’s hand is gone and she finds herself missing her warmth. “Time to freaking fly.”

_Lesson VI: Divination_

“I’ve always thought Divination was stupid,” Nayeon confesses on the bathroom floor, surrounded by a circle of salt. Mina’s crushing herbs for the tea the spell requires. “Why would you ever want to know the future?”

“Maybe it brings people comfort,” Mina offers.

“I’d rather not know,” Nayeon shakes her head. “You don’t mess with the future.”

Mina wants to roll her eyes and smile at the same time, but she’s too busy with the herbs.

“You can read mine so you won’t have to mess with yours,” she says, in an attempt to make her feel more at ease.

“If you could know something about the future,” Nayeon asks, brow slightly furrowed, “what would it be?”

Love, maybe. But for some reason when she thinks about love all that she can think about is Nayeon, and her hand on Mina’s, and the way the candlelight makes her look even prettier than she already is.

“If the curse will ever be broken,” she says instead. Before Nayeon can say anything, Mina puts the pestle down. “There, I think that’s enough.”

Question forgotten, Nayeon looks at the mix of herbs on Mina’s lap and nods in approval. “That should do.”

Nayeon takes the herbs and places them inside a cup, later filling it with boiling water from the kettle they stole from the kitchen. The water turns green almost instantly, and Nayeon wraps her hand around the cup and hands it to Mina.

“Drink up,” she says. Mina does as she’s told.

The tea tastes mostly like tea. The spell called for dried peppermint leaves, lavender buds, chamomile flowers; mostly things they could find on the school’s greenhouse that no one would miss. Nayeon added some mint too after she found out it’s Mina’s favorite.

“For flavor,” Nayeon had said. 

After a few minutes and Nayeon looking entirely too curious, Mina is finally done with her tea. She hands it over to Nayeon, and she takes time to stare at the leaves left on the bottom of the cup. Somehow Mina ends up way more invested than she planned to be.

“What does it read?” She asks curiously.

“There’s a heart,” it’s all Nayeon can really say. “And some… fire? A hand... and a frog... I think.”

Mina feels slightly disappointed. “What does that mean?”

“Maybe a fiery, passionate love?” she suggests. "A frog kinda makes me think about the story of the Frog and the princess."

Mina attempts not to blush and fails miserably. “Maybe that the curse will be broken… I heard the girls saying the guys from the school down the block will be here for Winter formal next month. Maybe one of the guys…?” 

“There’s no way of telling,” Nayeon shrugs. “Divination is trash anyway,” she declares, placing the cup back on the ground. There’s an edge to her voice that wasn’t there before.

_Final Lesson: Curse Breaking_

The spell is clear. Mina reads it over and over again.

“But I don’t have any enemies...” she says. Nayeon frowns at it too.

_CURSE BREAKING SPELL_

_Ingredients:_

  * _Mint leaves_


  * _Half a frog leg_


  * _Crushed Dahlia flower_


  * _A lock of hair from the Cursed_


  * _One teaspoon of the blood of your enemies_



“Maybe we can find a replacement,” Nayeon suggests, taking the book from Mina’s hand and skimming over the spell. “... Apparently, that and the lock of hair are the only non-replaceable ingredients.”

Mina sighs. “What are we going to do?”

“I guess we’ll have to find the witch that cursed you,” Nayeon says, plopping down the floor next to Mina. “That would count as an enemy, right?”

“And how are we going to do that?” Mina asks.

Nayeon smirks. “We make them come to us.”

She skims over the book again, reading over countless spells until her finger stops over the one she was looking for.

“Here it is,” she says. “A summoning spell. If I use a lock of your hair I can find the witch that cursed you.”

“I’m gonna be bald if every spell is gonna need my hair...” Mina points out, using one of the scissors she burrowed from the library to cut a lock of blonde hair off. Nayeon rolls her eyes at her.

“It’s just hair,” she says, and she clutches it into her chest as she starts to chant. _“Hoc est, qui iniuriam vocat pythonissam innocentes mortale. Infernus inferius in nomine magni Dei, qui vocat ad pythonissam, qui ausus tangere desiderabilia mea et pulcherrima particeps.”_

Mina watches as the hair on Nayeon’s hand turns into ash — a gust of wind dusts it all away. The candles all around the bathroom come to life, casting orange shadows on the mirror and walls. Mina feels the urge to scream; uneasiness settling inside of her — but then somehow Nayeon finds her hand and holds it. 

She’s never been scared of Nayeon’s power, but sometimes she forgets just how destructive it could all be in the wrong hands. She’s glad people like Nayeon are the ones who are gifted. Kind-hearted and friendly; always willing to help others. Mina closes her eyes for a second and squeezes Nayeon’s hand once more, and then the candles are put out by another gust of wind.

A second later, Nayeon lights the candles once again. In the middle of the room lies a girl.

Mina gasps. Kim Dahyun blinks her eyes open, adjusting to the orange tints.

“Shit,” she says.

“Dahyun cursed you?” Nayeon asks, slightly dumbfounded. “Maybe we should’ve done this summoning spell way earlier.”

Mina almost replies to that. _No, I liked getting to know you first. And you weren’t strong enough yet._ Instead, she speaks to Dahyun, the first person she met when she transferred to this school.

“You’re a witch, Dahyun?”

Dahyun sighs. “Ah… I knew something like this would happen.”

“You cursed me?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Dahyun flinches, standing up from the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“How do you unintentionally curse someone?!” Nayeon exclaims, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I’m sorry!” Dahyun says, looking genuinely sorry. “I didn’t even know I cast a curse on you, I didn’t even know I was a witch back then! Not all of us are born into a Coven like Nayeon is. Magic skips generations, you know? My mother didn’t even know my Grandma was one.”

“How did you do it?” Mina asks, struggling to find the words to speak. _How could her roommate, pretty and friendly Kim Dahyun, ever curse someone?_

“It wasn’t on purpose, I swear,” she’s quick to explain. “I used to have this embarrassing crush on you and—”

Mina’s eyes widen. “You had a crush on me?”

Dahyun blushes, waving her hands around and shaking her head. “I don’t anymore!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you cursed her so no one can fall in love with her ever again,” Nayeon huffs.

“That’s not it,” Dahyun says, then turns to stare at Mina again. “You were really pretty and nice and… you never even looked at me. I didn’t know I was a witch, much less that I could curseanyone. I cast one on you by accident when I asked you if you were going to the dance with anyone and you said you weren’t even going. I was sad and the curse cast itself, I promise.”

Nayeon turns to look at Mina, not sure what to say, probably waiting for her. Her eyes are very telling. _I’ll kick her ass if you want me to_ , although she doesn’t really look like she wants to.

“I believe you,” Mina says.

Dahyun nods, relieved. “Thank you,” she says, genuinely.

Nayeon points an accusatory finger at her. “You’ll make this right, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course I will," Dahyun nods. "I’ll help you cast it too. Two witches casting a spell will be more powerful than just one.”

“Thank you...” Mina says, looking at the floor. Nayeon reaches for her hand again and she welcomes the comforting touch.

“You should go rest,” Nayeon tells her. “Tomorrow will be a full moon. The spell will be more powerful then. Me and Dahyun will start preparing the potion and the arrangements.”

Mina nods. She feels a bit lightheaded, so she listens to Nayeon. When she closes the bathroom door behind her, for some reason, she leans into the door. Maybe she’s curious, maybe it’s like one of those things Nayeon sometimes wants her to do so much she unknowingly makes her do, like the first time they met.

“I knew you guys were practicing magic here,” Dahyun comments after a while. “The third floor reeks of magic.”

“You knew about Mina taking notes too,” Nayeon says. “Why didn’t you report me to the Witch Council? You know it’s against the rules to disclose about our power with any other human.”

Nayeon had never spoken about any of that before. All she remembers is her vaguely commenting about not being allowed to intervene with another witch’s work… Mina feels her run blood cold. Is Nayeon in trouble?

“Humans make us weak,” Dahyun responds later. “I told my girlfriend too, you know. I told Momo everything. About witches, the Council and spells. Love makes us want to break even the most sacred rules. Your secret is safe with me.”

Nayeon doesn’t say anything. Mina goes back to bed after that, her heart heavy inside her chest.

_Love._

On the following full moon, Nayeon, Mina and Dahyun gather in the abandoned bathroom they’ve been using in the past two months for witchcraft lessons. Mina’s as nervous as she’s ever been, her heart pounding inside her chest. The moon is shining brightly outside, and once she enters the bathroom she finds it filled with lit candles.

There’s a pot in the middle of the room. Nothing is boiling, but Nayeon stirs it with a wooden spoon. Probably stolen from the kitchen. There’s a buzz on Mina’s ears, which reminds her she should've eaten something beforehand because her blood sugar levels are about to plummet down. On the corner she finds Dahyun reading through a spell book.

Her hand is bandaged. She gifts her a small, regretful smile. 

“Hey,” Dahyun says.

“Hi.”

“I just wanted to say...” Dahyun says, choked up. “I never meant to curse you. I’m sorry, I’m _really_ really sorry.”

For some reason, Mina finds that she can’t be mad at her. Maybe because she’s her roommate and she lets her play Minecraft at three AM and doesn’t get as mad as she has a right to be. Maybe because she understands how awful it is to live in the shadows, not really belonging anywhere, loving someone and knowing their heart can’t be yours. Maybe because she brought her to Nayeon. 

“I know,” she says, as reassuring as possible. She takes Dahyun’s hand and wraps it around hers. “It’s okay.”

Dahyun nods, wiping the small tear away and re-joining Nayeon to help her with the potion.

“You have to drink the potion first,” Nayeon instructs Mina after a few minutes. “Then we’ll draw a circle of salt and you’ll lie on it. We’ll light some candles around you. I need Dahyun to place her blood on your lips for it to really help.”

Mina makes a face. “This sounds like something out of Twilight.”

Nayeon snorts. 

“Yeah.” She’s buzzing with either fear or excitement — Mina can’t tell. She leaves Dahyun in charge of the potion and approaches Mina. “How are you, Mina?”

“Nervous,” she nods. Nayeon smiles at her.

“It’s okay,” she reassures her. “Remember when you were helping me learn how to fly and we took each other’s hands?”

Mina doesn’t know why, but there’s a knot inside her throat. She feels like she might cry any second now. “Yeah… You said we were different, but we still tried to understand each other. That’s what friends are for, that’s what you said.”

“We understand each other now,” Nayeon says, nodding. “I don’t have to try to understand you now. I know you, Mina.”

Mina takes Nayeon’s hand, and Nayeon takes it immediately. They don’t say anything for a few seconds, they just stare at each other’s eyes — Mina’s been pressured her entire life to say something, it’s so refreshing to have someone like Nayeon to just understand. She thinks about the way the moonlight had looked reflected on Nayeon’s skin, on the way she had smiled. Mina realizes that was the night she realized she loved Im Nayeon.

Mina feels this burning urge inside of her; to lean in, to kiss Nayeon, to feel her lips against her. To have her hold her. But she knows she can’t unless this stupid curse is lifted once and for all — she knows Nayeon can’t possibly feel the same way about her. But— but maybe she’ll tell her. Maybe if she’s brave enough once the curse is finally broken, she’ll tell Nayeon how she really feels.

“The potion is ready,” Dahyun announces.

“You ready?” Nayeon asks.

Mina nods.

“Let’s break this stupid curse.”

Dahyun and Nayeon guide Mina and help her down the potion. “All of it,” Nayeon instructs. 

Despite the bitter taste of death, Mina does as told. The potion burns inside Mina’s throat and she’s certain her stomach will punish her for this later, but she lays on the floor as the girls start to draw a circle of salt around her. 

“ _Liberate haec animam meam de regno infestos etiam pythonissam tormenta. O inferi, de iniquitate liberabis animam poena_ ,” Nayeon chants, Dahyun joining her. They draw shapes with salt, and wait for the candles to light aflame.

Dahyun takes the bandage off her hand, and blood spurts from the wound. She offers it to Mina with a reassuring smile. Mina closes her eyes and Dahyun sprinkles blood all over her lips, the smell of iron making Mina slightly dizzy even lying down.

 _“Liberate innocentes haec anima! liberate innocentes haec anima!”_ They both begin to chant together, Mina sees the candles begin to flicker on and off, a gust of wind making the hairs on the back of her neck rise. _“Liberate innocentes haec anima! liberate innocentes haec anima!”_

She feels it on the tip of her fingernails at first; just the slightest of tingles. Then her arm falls asleep, and her stomach feels like she’s being searched and Mina wants to scream at this foreign thing inside of her but her mouth doesn’t move and then —

And then it’s over. The candles never even get to fully light.

Mina waits for a few seconds, eyes still closed, waiting to feel something different, but nothing feels wrong or right. It feels… the same. Exactly the same. Dread washes over her when she opens her eyes and finds Nayeon’s gaze on hers, nostrils flared open and desperation on her brow.

“What happened?” Dahyun asks. “Is it done?”

“Fuck… Shit! Son of a bitch!” Nayeon whines. “ _Fuck_!”

“What?” Mina croaks, the taste of iron still on her lips. “What happened, Nayeon?”

“It didn’t fucking work!” Nayeon exclaims, tears prickling in the corner of her eyes. In her rage, the candles all around Mina come alive, the flames almost kissing Mina’s skin from the sheer force of it. “The curse didn’t fucking break!”

Nayeon's anger makes the bathroom mirror shatter into thousands of pieces, one of them piercing Nayeon’s face, right under her eye. Mina squeals in fear and covers herself with her arm to avoid any shards of glass, Dahyun doing the same. There's a moment where no one even breathes, stunned into silence at Nayeon's breakdown. Mina doesn’t say anything; She’s not sure what to even say, she just freezes in place. Dahyun stays in place, her mouth covered by her hand in shock.

“We’ll try again,” Dahyun says, shaking her head. “We’ll make another potion, we’ll use a different spell —”

“Yeah? When?” Nayeon replies, her brow furrowed in anger. Mina wants to reach out and comfort her, but she’s stuck in place. “There won’t be a full moon until next month, and it’ll be the winter holidays by then. Mina — Mina’s just been screwed over because of us!”

“There has to be something else we can do...” Dahyun’s voice cracks at the end.

“Mina...” Nayeon turns to her, her eyes puffy and red. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”

Mina’s mouth goes dry, but she does stand up then, trying to reach for Nayeon’s arm. 

“It’s okay,” she manages to say. “It’s okay.”

“We’ll try again next year, I promise,” Dahyun tells her. “I’ll bring even more witches so the spell is extra strong. We’ll break it, I promise.”

Mina nods, although she’s not quite sure if she believes her. Dahyun leaves with the excuse to find something to heal Nayeon’s wound, and disappears into the hallway in a swift movement.

Mina wraps Nayeon into a hug. She resists it a bit first, but then she relaxes into the hug and they both plummet down on the ground, exhausted. The spell took almost all of their energy away even if it didn’t work.

“We worked so hard for it...” Nayeon cries into her shoulder. “You deserve so much better than me, Mina.”

Mina’s eyes are glassy, and a tear slips out of them. “Don’t say that...”

“I’m a horrible witch and you’re paying because I’m so _incompetent_ ,” Nayeon says, silent tears streaming down her face. “I’m useless, and you deserve to find love and it’s all ruined because of me!”

Mina shakes her head, breaking the hug and reaching for Nayeon’s face without thinking. She takes her finger and wipes away Nayeon’s tears, one by one. She flinches at the contact at first, shocked maybe, but Nayeon relaxes after a few seconds, the cut on her cheek tinting her face red.

“You’re not a bad witch at all,” Mina says, shaking her head. “You’re so strong and smart and resilient… I don’t blame you for anything, Nayeon. Do you hear? I don’t blame you.”

“Look at you,” Nayeon cries. “You’re the one that’s been cursed and you’re comforting me.”

Mina smiles slightly. “I don’t mind. Not for you.”

“You should,” she sniffles. “You know? You were the best teacher I could ever ask for, even if you’re a human. You’re better than half of my Coven back home.”

Mina smirks slightly, still holding Nayeon’s face. She feels braver than ever, staring into Nayeon’s eyes. 

“You’re talented,” she giggles, still managing to blush. “A teacher is nothing without her student, you know?” Nayeon’s mouth curls into a slight smile, and Mina finally let’s go, only to pull Nayeon’s head onto her lap. “You shouldn’t blame yourself so much. We tried.”

Nayeon nods. “I know. My witch self-esteem is still on the floor, though...” 

“We could try Pyrokinesis again,” Mina suggests, giggling slightly. “I’m sure you’ll do great now. Plus, it’ll prove that all of our lessons weren’t useless.”

Nayeon huffs, her eyes still glistening with tears. “Pff, right. Like that went so well last time.”

“I’m serious,” she says, standing up again.

“I am too!” Nayeon exclaims, watching her tear a piece of cloth from her shirt. “Are you crazy? Mina, I swear to God if you burn yourself again —”

“I won’t. I trust you,” Mina says simply.

Nayeon stops in her tracks for a second; something flashes across her eyes. It looks like she wants to say something but she never does. Instead, Nayeon’s eyes find Mina’s for a mili-second, then they drop to her hand. It’s refreshing to see her determined once again, and Mina’s heart skips a beat.

She swallows. “Okay… okay, let’s do it.”

Nayeon lights one of the candles on. Mina places the piece of paper above it, eyes focused on Nayeon’s, but Nayeon doesn’t look at her, she’s too concentrated on the fire. The moment it catches on fire, Nayeon puts it out; doesn't even give it time to even turn to ash.

It’s fascinating, as it turns out that everything that has to do with Nayeon is. Everything about Nayeon is magical — from the way her lips curl into a smile to the way she can light a candle with a movement of her wrist. Mina blushes when she realizes just how long she’s been staring at her.

Nayeon laughs, her face sweaty and painted with blood. Maybe it’s the most beautiful Mina has ever seen her; so raw, with tear stains on her cheeks, salt and iron taste. 

“You did it,” Mina smiles. “I knew you would.”

But when she looks up Mina finds Nayeon’s eyes staring right back at her. No one needs to say anything for Mina’s heart to soar, for Mina to want to reach and place a hand on Nayeon’s cheek again and… and reach out and kiss her. But she knows she can’t. She can’t, because Nayeon would never want her to, because Mina’s cursed to be unloved for all eternity.

Still, her hand reaches for Nayeon’s cheek. She places her hand there, stroking her cheek, and Nayeon closes her eyes to the touch. She could live like this. If Nayeon let her. She could live knowing she’d never love her like this, but that she can be with her.

Then the moment is ruined when the door opens and Dahyun walks in, and Mina steps away from Nayeon like she’s been burned.

“Sorry for barging in like that but— you both are such _idiots_!” Dahyun exclaims, making both of them frown in confusion. “I know why the curse didn’t break!”

“What are you talking about?” Nayeon asks.

“The curse was supposed to break when Mina fell in love with a witch,” Dahyun explains. “We couldn’t break the curse because it broke already.”

Mina’s eyes widen. “What are you —?”

“I’m saying Nayeon already broke the curse,” Dahyun says, laughter on the corners of her mouth, “because _you_ fell in love with _her_.”

Mina’s mouth goes dry. 

“I...” but she can’t even bring herself to deny it. Nayeon doesn’t look at her, she’s staring right at Dahyun, her expression shocked and confused.

“When? When did it—?”

“Flying lessons,” Mina explains for Dahyun. “That’s when... ” she doesn’t finish the sentence; her heart beating rapidly in her ears. It’s the only thing she can hear.

Nayeon’s still bleeding. She wants to reach out and heal her. _I don’t have powers, but I still want to heal you_ , she thinks. _That’s love._ She doesn’t say anything, the words stuck inside her throat and barely letting her breathe. Mina doesn’t know who might pass out first; her or Nayeon.

Nayeon doesn’t say anything. No one does; no one celebrates the curse is broken, no one does absolutely anything, not even Dahyun.

“I have to go,” Mina says, preparing to run away — but Nayeon doesn't let her; she grabs her hand and forces her to stop. Mina feels tears prickling at the corner of her eye, and Dahyun gasps softly behind her.

"You mean it?" Nayeon asks sounding breathless.

Mina's back is turned to her so she can't see her face, but she nods anyway. What else is there to say? I’m sorry I love you? She might be embarrassed, but she’s not ashamed of her heart. Loving Nayeon isn’t something horrible; it's been easy, and sweet, and Mina had never felt more... herself. It's strange. With Nayeon she doesn’t have to explain anything. She likes witches, so Nayeon talked to her about that. She’d even promised her to play Minecraft with her one day, back when they were learning Necromancy and Mina had gone on to talk about Creepers for about an hour.

"You're not joking."

Mina rolls her eyes, eyes still foggy. "Why would I joke about that? The curse wouldn't be broken if —"

Nayeon takes her arm and makes Mina turn around and face her in a quick motion that has Mina gasping in shock. She barely has time to think before Nayeon's kissing her, quick and hard and desperate. She hears the door closing — Dahyun left to give them some privacy. Although the kiss is over before Mina can kiss back, and Nayeon pulls away, blushing from head to toe, gasping for air.

“I love you,” Nayeon says, all small talk and courtesy forgotten. “I’m in love with you. I knew it when you said that you trusted me, when you wiped my cry-baby tears, when you held my hand for the very first time. I knew. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

Mina takes in a sharp breath. “You’re…?”

“I’m not kidding,” Nayeon laughs, shaking her head. “Shit, how was that more difficult than telling you I’m a witch?”

“You love me,” Mina means it like a statement, but it sounds more like a question.

“Yeah. I used to think I was just... I don't know,” she shakes her head, laughing. "I've never felt so connected to someone before. I read somewhere that some witches have soulmates and I thought that's why.. I don't know. Loved you so much. But I really wanted to kiss you."

"So you did..." Mina says, a giggle on the tip of her tongue.

"Yes," Nayeon chuckles, blushing even more.

“You love _me_.”

Nayeon raises an eyebrow at her. “Want me to prove it?”

Mina blushes up to her ears, but she still manages to smile and hits Nayeon across the shoulder lightly. Nayeon doesn't even stumble back, she just smiles right back at her, the kind of smile that makes Mina feel like everything’s okay. Nayeon’s magical like that. Who would've thought Freaky Myoui would bag the prettiest, coolest girl in school?

In a moment of bravery, Mina takes Nayeon’s face in her hands, her fingers grazing over the small scar under her eye, stroking her cheek. Nayeon closes her eyes, and Mina does the same. She doesn’t even have time to think about how this is her second kiss and she should be way more nervous about it because her lips touch Nayeon’s and she sighs, content, like this is where she should be. Where she belongs.

This kiss is nothing like the first one; this one is slow and soft, both of them taking the time to memorize each other's lips, each sound the other makes. Nayeon tastes like peach, like a spell is dancing on the corner of her lips, and when Mina sighs she smiles into the kiss like it's the happiest she's been in a long time. Maybe it is.

Nayeon grabs her waist and holds her, drawing circles on her skin. Mina's worries disappear in a second, and she knows it's not because of magic or because Nayeon is a witch. It's because Nayeon loves her, and Mina loves Nayeon, and she doesn't need a spell to know that's real. 

To be honest, Mina had completely forgotten about the Science fair.

In her defense she’s been too busy trying to break a curse (that ended up already being broken) for the past three months to try and put together a project, so she’s going to waltz into the fair and accept her F with a (mostly, not really) head held high. She's been trying to reach Nayeon for the past hour, but she hasn't seen her since yesterday.

Miss Kim is waiting for her at her booth when Mina arrives, hair covering most of her face in shame. 

“Where’s your project, Miss Myoui?” she asks, looking over her shoulder. “On that note, where is your partner?”

Mina swallows. “I'm not really—”

“Right here!”

Mina turns around to find Nayeon reeling in a freaking baking soda and vinegar volcano with the help of her friends, mouth curled into a smile. Dahyun brings the vinegar (probably stolen from the kitchen, as if turns out most of their stuff for potions and spells are), her girlfriend Momo next to her, her grin matching her girlfriend's.

"Great!" Miss Kim exclaims, smiling from ear to ear. "Make sure the booth is done by three, that's when the Science fair will begin. Good luck, Miss Myoui, Miss Im."

“How did you manage to make this project by yourself?” Mina jokes once Miss Kim leaves, and Nayeon breaks into a grin. The familiar sight makes her feel warm all over; her heart sigh content. Mina stares at the small scar under Nayeon’s eye. "Did you manage to conjure one up for us?"

“Not exactly,” she shakes her head, wrapping a hand around her girlfriend's. “Dahyun felt so bad she made our project for us.”

“I should get cursed more often...” 

“ _Don’t_ ,” Nayeon pleads. “That curse breaking spell was a pain in the ass."

They end up winning the Science Fair. Dahyun enchants the other student's booths so they can get an A, and reveals that's how Irene and Seulgi won last year with such a shitty project. It comes to no surprise that those two are witches, but when she hears Park Jihyo and Yoo Jeongyeon are too she laughs for about an hour.

"We'll win fairly next year," Nayeon shrugs two hours later, with a #1st place ribbon attached to her sweater. "We can do another volcano but with like... fireworks."

Mina’s grandma had said to her: _you’re going to meet someone really special one day_ , as she turned old and grey. She was right.

**Author's Note:**

> the spells were all translated using google translate so they are most definitely wrong; most of them are meaningless, except for the one nayeon uses to summon dubu, in which she calls mina her 'precious companion' :)
> 
> my tw is @/seratoninz!


End file.
